Explain One Klay: Thompson's ten threes

This is one article out of a series of Explain One Play articles. For the full updated index, go to The Explain One Play series index.

Klay Thompson can shoot too.

Klay Thompson joins J.R. Smith (3) & Stephen Curry (2) as the only players in history with multiple games of at least 10 3-pointers.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 9, 2015

Here is the story of his ten threes tonight, which consist of a small number of plays mixed with much early offense and some crazy broken plays for flavor.

Q1.08:28. K Thompson 3pt Shot: Made (3 PTS) Assist: Rush (1 AST)

The Warriors push the ball up in early offense to catch the defense before they can set up.  Good find by Brandon Rush, finding Klay who just outraced everyone to the corner. Notice Curry walked up the other side barely making it to half court when the shot goes up.

Q1.07:34. K Thompson 3pt Shot: Made (6 PTS)

Klay brings the ball up and his defender inexplicably gives him a lot of space. He pulls up for 3.

Q1.05:23. K Thompson 3pt Shot: Made (12 PTS) Assist: Iguodala (1 AST)

Hey, an actual play! First Klay feeds Andre Iguodala in the post and Klay immediately crosses with Draymond Green and flares out off his screen. Pop quiz: recognize this play?

It's the grand daddy of the Warriors scheme, the first play put in in 2014 preseason, what I call post-cross, others call post-splits, triangle guard squeeze, etc. Past explanation here.) I can't tell what Andre was thinking here, whether he loses the ball, it gets deflected on the way to Klay, or if he thought Green was cutting to the hoop.

The ball takes a lucky bounce, Green tries out his new floater (nope) and Bogut taps out very skillfully. Bogut looked like as energetic as start-of-season Bogut for the first time since his injury. Andre gets it, feeds Klay on the arc via what looks a lot like a travel. His defender gives him a foot of space and BAM.

Q1.01:30. K Thompson 3pt Shot: Made (17 PTS) Assist: Curry (4 AST)

Early offense again. Off a made basket, the Warriors push the ball up. Curry throws a nice pass finding Klay at the perfect angle to fire a quick pull-up three. What is there to say? Notice James McAdoo's version of the three-shotgun celebration, where he ends it by breaking the three shotgun over his knee. Seems like a waste of a good shotgun; McAdoo has got to be more efficient.

Q2.03:31. K Thompson 3pt Shot: Made (20 PTS) Assist: Green (3 AST)

Hey, another play! This one is worth calling out. It's spiritually similar to the post-cross play, in that a "post" player gets the ball and the two wing shooters screen for each other. The difference is that the post player isn't in the post, he's up high, in theory dragging his man high and opening space near the basket.

I believe this is from the D'Antoni "Delay" series which featured David Lee as a Knick pre-Chipotle, but I can't track down video yet. Here is a very good old Ric Bucher(!!) breakdown of the play. Here's a version of it from the early Kerr Warriors. Klay feeds Bogut in the high "post", then screens for Curry.

Q2.02:04. K Thompson 3pt Shot: Made (23 PTS)

Andrew Bogut's pass of the year is a volleyball serve off the floor

— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) December 9, 2015

Curry has an ultra-open three. He gives up to Klay. That's Splash Brotherly Love. Plus some Andre confidence:

#BogutHustle + Andre knowing Klay's shot is good before it even goes in + #SPLASH. https://t.co/EwX6S1pYLW

— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) December 9, 2015

Q3.05:51. K Thompson 3pt Shot: Made (34 PTS)

Okay, we skip ahead well into the third period. The Warriors alternate between alley-oop dunks and futilely trying to set up Klay for 3. This is just a straight up heat check with Paul George not that far away but with hands down. But in the words of the Immortal Sage, "Hand down, man down!" Heat confirmed.

Q3.05:33. K Thompson 3pt Shot: Made (37 PTS) Assist: Curry (8 AST)

Completely classic early offense. What's the play?

Curry pushes the ball up into an early high pick-and-roll with Draymond (more discussion here). Paul George collapses unnecessarily, so Klay is open in the corner. Three.

Bonus Reel

The Dawk Ins Highlight Reel:

This is one article out of a series of Explain One Play articles. For the full updated index, go to The Explain One Play series index.

The Explain One Play Series So Far (as of this article)

Offense

• Explain One Quarter: Curry Counterpunches The Nets (Early Offense)
• Explain One Play: Stephen Curry's Gravity (Early Offense, Fake Rip Floppy)
• Explain One Quarter: Curry's Casual 28 Points (Come On, Son!!)
• Explain 1 Play: Curry Cold-Blooded Go-Ahead 3 (Klay-Curry Pick and Roll)
• Explain 1 Play: Brandon Rush Rides Elevator for 3 (HORNS Elevator Doors)
• Explain One Play: Klay Sweet 3 Restarts Blowout (Motion Weak)
• Explain One Play: Curry No-Look Pass For Barnes 3 (Warriors Early Offense)
• Explain 1 Play: Barnes Tries To Be Not "Terrible" (HORNS Elbow Get)
• Explain One Play: Thunderous Green-Ezeli Alley-oop Dunk (Recycled Double Screen)
• Explain 1 Play: Busted Elevator = Draymond Wins (Elevator Doors, Baseline Out of Bounds)
• Explain One Play: Curry & Green's Favorite Play (High Pick and Roll)
• Explain 1 Play: Iguodala's Last-Gasp 3 Saves W's (Split Screen, Sideline Out of Bounds)
• Explain 1 Play: Awesome Curry Bank Shot And-1 (Warriors Rip, Floppy, Curl)
• Explain One Play: Curry Screen = Barnes Dunk AGAIN (Warriors Rip)
• Explain One Play: Warriors + Floppy = Klay 3 (Floppy)
• One Play: Warriors + Triangle Offense = Barnes 3 (Post-Cross/Guard Squeeze)
• One Play: The W's Stop and Steal a Clippers Play (High HORNS)
• One Play: That Absurd No-Look Backwards Curry Pass (Simple Pick and Roll)
• One Play: 2 Spurs Recipes + Curry = Klay 3 (Hammer and Triple Loop)
• One Warriors Play: Spurs Play + Curry = Bogut Dunk (Motion Strong)
• Two Wild Threes from a Wild Game Three (Post-Cross)
• How the Warriors fought the blitz in Boston, Brooklyn (HORNS, Pick and Roll, Blitz)
• Understanding the Warriors Weave (The Weave!)
• Notes on Turnovers: The Movie!
• Notes on GSW's New Offense: Deception & Motion (HORNS and Post-Cross)
• Notes on the Warriors' new offense: Feeding the post (Basic Principles, Post-Cross)

Defense